There’s a generally observed rule in show business that one shouldn’t work with either children or animals.

If you’re in the world of PR, however, I’d suggest that this is one commandment not to be obeyed, as a couple of stunts from this week have shown rather clearly …

As Item One, you’d have had to have been living under a rock in a foreign nation devoid of television reception last week to miss the dubious shaggy dog story of the hounds that have been trained to drive a car.

And then, for Item Two, as you travelled into work perusing the comic book version of the news that is METRO, you will have been assailed by this little gem, which now appears to have got the interwebs all of a flutter …

So it is that the Happy Egg Co. has launched “Nice Pecks”, a calendar of cockerels designed to make its hens even happier while they go about their business.

I thought that I would take a moment as this column drags its sorry arse towards the festive season to salute the fine work of (I believe) Mischief for this.

A quick, easy, straightforward story that manages to get the brand point across beautifully, delivers cracking (sorry) pictures and has got the METRO, Mail and the rest of the internet talking about this animal-related tale.

A relatively unscientific survey has shown that the Daily Mail, Daily Express, METRO or The Sun carry at least one animal-related picture story in 83.7 per cent of their editions (this average rises to 96.4per cent in the case of the Daily Mail).

So where you can come up with a smart idea, strong pictures (always the trick to a good animal story) and a brand message that sings out through the hook, you know you’re onto a winner.

People of the Happy Egg Co., we salute you!

James Gordon-MacIntosh is a managing partner at Hope&Glory PR. He’s now working on a book – Antics Roadshow: an incomplete compendium of stunts, stories and japes. He’s looking for submissions, so if you’ve got work that should be included head here.